


Once upon a time in China...

by Ann4yana



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Awkwardness, Canon Compliant, Drunkenness, Falling In Love, M/M, meeting after a long time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25400020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann4yana/pseuds/Ann4yana
Summary: Heechul starts working on a movie in China. He knew Han Geng would work with him and he was excited to see his old friend after such a long time. But he didn't expect everything to go downhill in the first few days of shooting.
Relationships: Han Geng | Hankyung/Kim Heechul
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. And just like that we met again

**Author's Note:**

> I've never published a real person fic but SuJu seems to be the perfect fandom to start.  
> I fully support Han Geng and Celina, and Heechul and Momo. This is a work of fiction and is in no way supposed to reflect my view on HanChul's relationship. Han Geng's girlfriend in this story is not Celina because I don't feel comfortable breaking those two up. Not even in a fictional story. I'd rather have him breaking up with a fictional girl.  
> Also, I started this fic before Heechul and Geng met in December, so in this fic they haven't seen each other in a long time.  
> And I'm OT15 so all members could be mentioned.  
> I think that's all I want to mention. So, just enjoy now!

When the opportunity to shoot another movie presented itself to Heechul, he was surprised. He was never too eager to pursue a serious acting career. But his friends told him to take the chance and do it. So, he gave his okay.  
He was on his way to China, where the shooting would take place, when his manager told him Han Geng would also act in the movie.  
Heechul was taken by complete surprise. Until this moment he never thought he’d see Han Geng ever again. They had parted ways years ago and even though they had tried to keep contact, it never really worked out. The last time they had spoken was a few years ago.  
He didn’t really know what he was supposed to feel.  
Should he be happy to meet Han Geng again? Should he be mad about how nobody told him this before he had made the decision to participate in this project?  
Should he be sad…?  
When he went through his SNS he sometimes saw pictures from ELF of what Han Geng was up to. The Chinese man looked very happy and seemed to be enjoying his successful career.  
Heechul decided to try to relax for the rest of the flight in order to keep unnecessary thoughts out of his head for the time being.  
Upon arriving in China, Heechul asked his manager if Han Geng knew that he would be shooting with him. Sadly, his manager didn’t have an answer to that.  
He was brought to his hotel and informed that he would be picked up tomorrow morning around 9am. Heechul only made a noise of acknowledgement before he wished his manager and the Kims goodnight and went into his hotel room.

The next morning, he was a little bit grumpy. Of course, he had been thinking about his meeting with the former Super Junior member before he could fall asleep.  
His manager drove him to the movie’s set without any words exchanged between them. He probably felt Heechul’s bad mood.  
When they arrived, Heechul greeted some people and then was brought to his dressing room.  
The moment he opened the door, he wanted to turn around.  
There, on one of the chairs, was sitting one handsome Chinese guy.  
Han Geng looked up. His eyes widened when he saw Heechul.  
Super Junior’s diva gave his manager a furious glance, who whispered “The director thought it would be nice for both SuJu members to share a room. I’m sorry for not telling you but your mood was already this bad.”  
Heechul sighed. “Hey Hankyung.”  
A lovely smile appeared on Han Geng’s face. “Heechul! What are you doing here?”  
Heechul was sure his accent got even worse. But that happens if you don’t speak a language anymore.  
The Chinese man looked confused and stood up. But then it seemed to dawn on him. “You didn’t know I’m shooting this movie?”  
The answer was only a vague head movement from Heechul. “My manager told me yesterday during the flight. I’m also here to act in the movie.”  
Han Geng took a few steps in his direction and stopped again. “Oh…cool. I mean that we work together again.”  
The older nodded.  
Awkwardness was to be expected.  
They tried to avoid it by beginning to change and getting their makeup done. Han Geng also brought his own stylists.  
During that time, they rarely spoke. Han Geng asked him how he and the others were doing, and he asked Han Geng how he was doing. Nothing too personal.

The movie was a cute little romance. A noona romance.  
An elementary teacher in her 40s falls in love with a dance teacher. The dance teacher was of course played by Han Geng. Heechul thought the role was nicely picked for him.  
He was playing the pen pal of the teacher’s youngest sister who needs a place to stay when he visits China. His Mandarin was the worst, but he had already done his best in memorising most of his lines.  
The first day wasn’t too exciting and Heechul was almost ready to scold himself for having been so nervous. However, when they were done for the day, he and Han Geng were sitting in their room again, getting their makeup removed when Han Geng asked him, “Heechul, want to visit the next days?”  
The older one blinked a few times. “What?”  
“Today was so awkward. I thought maybe you’d like to visit sometime to talk. Talk like old friends again.”  
Heechul was taken aback by this sudden offer. He didn’t think Han Geng would want to talk about old times. But he nodded with a small smile. “The day after tomorrow I have to take a flight back to Korea for a variety show. But I’m free tomorrow and next week when I’m here again.”  
“Tomorrow? We can go out or you can come to my place.”  
He would be lying if he said that he didn’t want to see Han Geng’s place.  
“Let’s go to your place then. Seems more private. If we go out and fans see us, they’ll upload photos and that could make things awkward again if they’re expecting anything from us.” Heechul never thought he would be this open with his thoughts. But it only proved how he couldn’t deny that he had always felt at ease around Han Geng, even after so many years.  
The younger nodded and looked really happy and Heechul could feel himself getting a little giddy, too.

The second day was a lot more relaxed. Today was the scene in which Heechul’s character begged the protagonist’s sister to let him stay in her house. And Han Geng’s first dance scene.  
Heechul had almost forgotten how good Han Geng’s dancing was. It made him realise how long it had been since he was able to move his body without any problems.  
After work they had planned to meet at Han Geng’s around 6pm. Han Geng had given Heechul his address with a smile and a, “I’m happy we have time!”  
The Korean idol told his manager to drop him off at Han Geng’s house in the evening and promised that he would take a cab back.  
In the time he had between arriving at his hotel and meeting Han Geng he looked for some comfy, but not too lazy looking clothes. Although Han Geng had already seen him in his oldest, dirtiest and cheapest clothing.  
He decided on some relatively fancy looking sweatpants and a hoodie with a denim jacket.  
He had asked his manager to buy some alcohol. Han Geng had offered to cook for them. He even explained how his cooking had gotten better since their early years. Then Heechul told him he’d bring something to drink. It only resulted in the Chinese man reminding him that he had a flight back to Korea the next day. Heechul had only rolled his eyes at him.  
No one in SuJu knew that he was acting in a movie with Han Geng. He hadn’t told them yet. They knew about the movie but not about Han Geng being in it as well.  
Heechul scrolled through his SNS and sighed when he saw some ELF posting OT13 and OT15 stuff. They always posted pictures that included all members but right now it made his heart feel heavy.  
He wanted to have a good time with Han Geng this evening. Even though he couldn’t help but feel as if this was just another attempt to stay in contact that was doomed to fail.  
When it was 5:30pm he gathered his things and with one last glance at the mirror he left the room.

Han Geng’s flat was located quite centrally, which made them a little bit early.  
He wished his manager, who nagged at him for drinking the evening before their flight back, farewell and took the alcohol out of the car. Then he made his way into the house and the elevator. The house had 20 floors and Heechul had to go up all the way to the 16th floor.  
He just went straight to the door and rang the bell to keep himself from thinking too much. The door was opened after a few seconds. But it was not Han Geng, who stood behind it but a pretty woman.  
Heechul was very confused and didn’t know what to do. He wanted to show off his amazing Mandarin skills but then the woman started talking fast, sounding excited. He just understood his name and a greeting. Not knowing any other option, he asked, “Uh…Hankyung?”  
The women laughed and suddenly a familiar voice came from inside the flat, “Come in, Heechul. Xiaoxi doesn’t bite, she just hasn’t left yet.” Then he said something else in Chinese. The woman, Xiaoxi, waved and left the flat when Heechul entered.  
Heechul looked around as he put his jacket on the clothes hanger. Everything was very tidy and clean. He wondered if Han Geng’s flat always looked like this or if he had cleaned because of Heechul. Or maybe because of this Xiaoxi.  
Han Geng’s flat was decorated in warm colours and really different from his own. He had been here for barely 5 minutes and felt already comfortable and at home.  
On a cupboard were some photos. One was of Han Geng and his family. Beside it was a photo with probably his friends at a party. On the left side was a photo of Han Geng and Xiaoxi. Heechul couldn’t help but feel surprised by that. However, the two photos on the far left were what really made his heart skip a beat.  
They were photos of Super Junior and their subgroup Super Junior M.  
He reached for them when the sound of a hot pot being put down stopped him and made him look up.  
“Dinner’s served!” Han Geng grinned at him.  
Heechul nodded and turned around, maybe a little bit too fast for it to be natural.  
As they sat down, the Chinese man glanced at him. “Did you think I never think of you? Super Junior was a big part of my life.”  
“I don’t know. I never thought about it.” Heechul started shoving food into his mouth like it was some kind of mukbang. But instead of a camera he could focus on, he kept starring at Han Geng out of the corner of his eyes.  
Things were awkward again.  
The older got up to get them some alcohol. “Who was that Xiaoxi?”  
Han Geng smiled again. “What do you think? She is my girlfriend!”  
He whistled appreciatively. “Is our Hankyung thinking of settling down?”  
The other grinned and tried to hit him. “What about you? Do you have someone?”  
“Single as ever!” He sighed theatrically, “There were some, but it never lasts.”  
After alcohol was brought in, the conversation flowed easier.  
“Your cooking is awesome!”  
“Unlike you, I like to live healthy.”  
Heechul stuck out his tongue. Then he took another sip of the soju.

The evening went on nicely. At some point they had enough alcohol to talk relatively comfortable about their time together in Super Junior. They had moved to the living room table. Han Geng had brought out some snacks and the tv was playing some Chinese drama. Quite a few bottles were already piling on the floor.  
“To this day, I still see that awful picture of us under the shower on fansites!” Han Geng complained a little bit too whiny to be completely sober and took another big gulp from his glass.  
“But we looked sexy!” Heechul leaned against Han Geng. “We still do! I bet you have abs! I bet you’re working out. Are you?”  
Han Geng glanced at the long-haired man who was leaning on his shoulder and was trying to look inside his t-shirt. Suddenly Heechul exclaimed, “You are!”  
With something that reminded the Chinese idol of childlike innocent curiosity Heechul grabbed the hem of Han Geng’s tee and lifted it up. Panicked, Han Geng turned away from the Korean. “Heechul!”  
“Don’t be so shy! I want to see if our Hankyungie did well!” Heechul was definitely more than a little tipsy.  
The younger sighed and let the other do as he liked.  
Heechul hiked up his t-shirt again and looked amazed. “You really are working out! Looks good on you!” He traced the abs with his finger.  
Han Geng wished for the ground to open and swallow him up. Instead Heechul started to giggle. And he couldn’t help but following suit.  
When they stopped laughing, the Korean singer was hiding his face in the crook of Han Geng’s neck. “You smell nice.”  
His stomach made him feel something between the need to throw up and the feeling after eating his favourite chocolate. “I showered after the shooting, before you came.” He pondered a moment if he should say the next thing that crossed his mind, but his mouth said it anyway, “I was really happy when you said you had time.”  
“Wanted to talk to my old roommate. Sometimes I wish we would still sleep in the same room. Or shower together.” Heechul began trailing kisses down his neck.  
The Chinese man rested his hands on the other’s shoulders. “We only showered together because you were so persistent.” Now he was almost lying on his couch with Heechul half lying on his chest. Carefully, he tried to push the older away. The warm kisses were making him as uncomfortable as they were making him restless and flustered.  
Heechul’s teeth grazed his skin.  
Han Geng flinched. “Heechul…”  
Heechul had always been very touchy and he had never had a problem with it. But they hadn’t seen each other in such a long time, weren’t really friends anymore and shouldn’t be so close with each other.  
His t-shirt was still lifted up halfway. The long-haired man’s hands found his waist and caressed it tenderly. “Hankyungie, lets shower together again sometime. How ‘bout now?” He looked up adorably at him. Han Geng ran his fingers through Heechul’s soft black hair. “No, we’re not showering together now.”  
The other crawled a little bit higher, only to end up entirely on his chest, but suddenly his left elbow jabbed painfully into Han Geng’s ribs. Han Geng changed his position on the couch to get away from Heechul’s elbows. Unfortunately, in his alcohol-induced clumsiness his left thigh made it between Heechul’s legs, brushing his crotch.  
The older's arms found their way around Han Geng’s neck and he moaned into his ear.  
The younger still felt somewhat the need to stop what was happening but with the alcohol and the beautiful man in his arms his mind was too far gone to put up any resistance.  
“Hankyungie…”  
His hands wandered up Heechul’s sides, lifting his hoodie. When his hands reached the other’s chest, he let his thumbs circle the pink nipples.  
Heechul sighed while he kissed his way along Han Geng’s jaw until he finally reached his lips. He sucked on Han Geng's bottom lip and then slipped his hot tongue inside his mouth. Heechul's kisses were like the himself: self-confident and unpredictable.  
In that very moment Han Geng was convinced that he shouldn't allow himself to enjoy this kiss so much. Heechul's hands were working on getting his t-shirt off of him. The Chinese man was not really helpful in that matter, so he broke the kiss and opted for freeing himself from his own hoodie instead. Heechul was lean and soft in all the right places. Then he whined, “Hankyung…let me see more of you!” and tugged at Han Geng's clothes.

Han Geng took off his tee and pulled Heechul flush against him, feeling the soft milky white skin against his darker skin. “Heechullie, it’s good to hug you again.”  
The older was desperately rolling his hips against Han Geng’s. Small whimpers and moans escaped him.  
Han Geng sucked hard on the skin above Heechul’s sharp collarbone. The other whimpered from the slight pain. He licked at the red spot in apology.  
Suddenly Heechul’s weight lifted and he took the Chinese man’s hand, guiding him excitedly into the bedroom. “If we can’t shower, let’s sleep together.” When he got to the bed, he let himself fall onto it and pulled Han Geng on top of him. Heechul’s hand snuck between the other’s legs and rubbed his bulge. Han Geng groaned.  
They were lying half-naked in Han Geng’s bed, exchanging kisses and trying to get their hands on every little patch of skin they could reach. There was a little reasonable part of Han Geng’s brain that told him to stop this madness right now.  
He didn’t.  
He changed their positions, taking Heechul on top of him.  
Heechul was breathing heavily while the younger played with his pink nubs, pinching them, circling them. He began thrusting upwards, trying to create friction.  
Shamelessly moaning, Heechul was mirroring his action. “Han-Hankyungie, ah…never gonna let you go again…ngh…”  
Han Geng’s hands found their way to Heechul’s pants. His sounds limited to soft sighs, a low hum in his throat and incoherent mumbling. He had already pulled them down when…  
“Never wanna see that woman with you again. I knew you longer!” Heechul had his eyes closed, licked his lips, and was running his hands over Han Geng’s chest. He didn’t realise what he was saying.  
The younger stopped his actions. His thrusting, his hands, everything.  
He had a girlfriend. He really liked Xiaoxi. He had never done anything with a man before. Heechul was only here for his job. He would be leaving China again for the foreseeable future. They both were really drunk.  
So many reasons that should’ve stopped him before. What was he doing? He was ruining everything.  
He grabbed Heechul’s hips and tried to push him off his body. “Heechul. Stop.”  
The Korean idol opened his dilated eyes and looked at the other with a fiery glance. “What? Hankyung, don’t stop.”  
“Heechul, we’re going to regret it. We’re drunk.”  
Suddenly the older pouted, which looked very out of place, considering their position. Out of spite, he moved his hips again a few times, inducing some suppressed moans from Han Geng.  
The Chinese man gritted his teeth and pushed him off. When Heechul lay beside him, he hugged the smaller man. “Heechul, I missed you too. But I have a girlfriend I really like. This is not right.”  
Heechul sighed and hugged him back. “I missed Hankyungie. So weird seeing him again.” The excitement wore off and it took not even five minutes until Heechul drifted off.  
Han Geng buried his face in the other’s hair and took a deep breath. He smelled so good. Han Geng had never noticed how good he smelled, how soft he was, how perfect he felt in his arms.  
With these thoughts Han Geng also found sleep.


	2. And everything was awkward

When he woke up, he had no idea where he was. Heechul had never seen this room before. What bothered him even more was that he was laying here with a naked upper body and his sweatpants halfway down his thighs. He tried to remember what he had done yesterday.  
He went to Han Geng’s? So, this had to be Han Geng’s bedroom.  
But what happened for him to be half naked?  
He pulled up his pants and got up from the bed. He could hear the shower, so he guessed his host was in the bathroom.  
Looking around in the room, he caught a glimpse of himself in the bedroom mirror. His eyes were red rimmed, his hair a mess and his lips looked slightly swollen. But what made him halt was the angry red hickey just above his collarbone.  
He groaned and facepalmed. What had he done?  
He remembered it. And what he remembered were things that should’ve never had happen. How could he get that drunk?  
With a sigh, Heechul left the room and searched for his hoodie. He found it carelessly thrown beside the couch.  
He had almost slept with Han Geng. Who had a girlfriend. And left their group years ago. Whom he hadn’t seen in ages.  
Heechul was just considering leaving when the bathroom door opened. There was the man he kissed last night.  
Han Geng stared at him with wide eyes. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. “Oh…good morning…”  
“Morning…” He put on his hoodie and debated with himself what his next action should be.  
“About what happened yesterday…” Han Geng wanted to talk.  
The older interrupted him, “Look, what happened yesterday is that we were both too drunk. You have a girlfriend and I might be a little bit lonely because I’m in a foreign country right now. None of this should’ve happened.”  
The Chinese blinked a few times and then took long strides towards him. He grabbed his Heechul’s elbow. “Heechul, we should…”  
“Yes, I should leave now.” He shook off the now bothersome hands. He didn’t want to talk with Han Geng about what happened. “I’m sure they’re already waiting for me. I have to catch a plane. We’ll see each other on set.” With one last glance into Han Geng’s brown confused eyes, he left.

Heechul was glad that they hadn’t exchanged their new numbers. He couldn’t have dealt with Han Geng calling him during his break. Right now, Hyukjae was sitting beside him, drinking soju and complaining about how stressed he was with touring as D&E and preparing for their Super Junior comeback in between. And Heechul really could understand him but in this moment, he had problems that made him really annoyed about the things Hyukjae was annoyed by and was now annoying him with. How annoying. Oh, the irony.  
“…and how the hell am I supposed to help choreograph the dance to the song if I’m not in the country half of the time!” Hyukjae seemed to sense that he wasn’t really listening, “What’s with you today? I know you just came back from China, but it was your idea to go out drinking, so don’t ignore me!”  
“I know…I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”  
Hyukjae rolled his eyes and made a move to hit Heechul. “Then just tell me about it, hyung. Isn’t that why we go drinking together?”  
With a sigh Heechul buried his face in his hands. “I just did something stupid and now I have to live with the consequences for the next few months.”  
“What did you do? Oh my god, did you knock up a girl in China?!”  
Heechul glared at him. “Really now?”  
The younger shrugged and sipped on his glass again. “You don’t look like you want anyone to know what happened, so I have to guess.”  
He let out an angry snort and picked at his food.

When Heechul got home he was pleasantly buzzed. He knew he needed to pack new clothes for the next week in China, but his brain decided now was the right time to search for every memory of Han Geng on their long journey as Super Junior in his flat.  
It took at least two hours to gather all the things that he had left from Han Geng. Things like pictures, little presents and letters. He looked at every picture again, read every letter again and sighed at every gift. Bok lay beside him and was whimpering.  
When the idol came to a little plush toy the other had brought him from China, he hugged it and tried to chase away the little memory fragments from last night that appeared in his mind.  
With Han Geng’s face burned inside his mind and Bok’s rough tongue against his face he fell asleep.

The next morning Heechul woke up inside a circle of things from his former friend. He was shocked and stood up with a panicked look at the piled things in the middle of his living room.  
He grabbed everything, while almost tripping over his own two feet, and put it inside one of his cupboards.  
As he looked in the mirror, he looked no more rested than the day before. Like years ago, Han Geng was haunting him again.  
Fortunately, he only had a meeting with the other members today. They had to prepare for their comeback.  
Suddenly his phone signaled a new message. From Jungsoo.  
Changjoo-ssi is going to pick us up.  
Heechul was a little bit surprised that Jungsoo told him that but he sent an ok anyway.  
Even though the things from Han Geng had been put away, the room, his own room, seemed still too uncomfortable for him to stay in right now.  
Heebum mewled at him and demanded food. After the food was provided the cat ignored his owner again. Bok got the same treatment and both of them received their share of affection through minutes of dedicated petting.  
The next hour was used for a shower and self-care time with skin care and singing rock songs naked in front of his full-body mirror.  
Before leaving he barely had time for some ramyeon and just put up his hair before rushing out of the door.  
The car was already parked in front of the building’s entrance. Heechul opened the door and saw Jungsoo already sitting there, looking at his phone. He looked up to greet him with his dimples on display. “Hey.” The other’s soft voice almost didn’t reach Heechul’s ears.  
“Hi!” He faced their manager, “Sorry for being late.” He got in the car and fastened his seatbelt.  
Changjoo only nodded and started their car.  
He also wanted to check his phone when he saw Jungsoo staring at him. “Huh?”  
“Hyukjae called me.”  
Oh god.  
“What did that telltale tell you?”  
“That you probably did something but you didn’t get anybody pregnant.”  
The long haired man muffled a laugh. “Was he still drunk when he called you?”  
“Most definitely.”  
Heechul patted Jungsoo’s arm. “Dear leader, don’t worry. I didn’t fuck anything up for the group. I just made life a little more difficult for me.”  
“You know it’s not always about the group. I also care for you as a person, not only as Heechul from Super Junior.”  
Heechul smiled at his friend.

Only Yesung had arrived before them. He looked up from his phone and smiled. “Hi hyung!” For a short moment, Heechul wondered if they all were too focused on their phones.  
“Hey Yesex!” He grinned while Yesung made attempts to throw something at him. He sat beside the younger and ruffled his newly dyed hair. “Looks good. What did the fans say?”  
“I'm sexy.”  
Siwon entered the room. “Who's sexy? Are you talking about me?” Hyukjae, who walked in behind him, almost spit out his coffee to go while laughing.  
Their managers sat down opposite from them and began putting important notes on the table.  
Hyukjae ruined Yesung hair and sat down on his other side. “Too many accessoires again, hyung.” Yesung grabbed Hyukjae's coffee as answer and took big gulps. “Hyung! I need that!”  
Siwon, who had taken the place beside Leeteuk, took a selca.  
Shindong strolled into the room with sunglasses and seemingly no intention to take them off.  
“Donghee, did you go drinking until dawn again?”  
“Have you looked in the mirror recently…hyung?”  
Heechul knew he didn’t look any better. Especially with his worrying thoughts late at night.  
The last ones to arrive were Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun after the manager had already tried to start the meeting. “Sungmin called on our way. He wishes us the best of luck for the comeback.” Yesung almost spilled Hyukjae's coffee in excitement. “Oh yeah! Kangin too! He's also working on something, but he doesn’t want to tell what it is!”  
“Everyone, can we finally start the meeting?” The managers seemed to get impatient.  
They had to decide over important matters. What their new theme was going to be, who would play what role in the music video, how the choreographers had managed to integrate Heechul into the dance and how their future schedule looked like with the D&E tour as well as Heechul's movie shooting.  
It was like everyone had forgotten about his movie shooting because suddenly they were all over him, demanding information about that mysterious movie he was involved in.  
Heechul seldom felt uncomfortable with the other Super Junior members. Almost never. Sometimes maybe when Yesung’s and Hyukjae’s teasing got a little bit too sexual for his tastes. Or that one time when Leeteuk asked him if he didn’t like the older’s nipples anymore after he hadn’t played with them on stage for a while. Or when he walked in on Donghae shaving his private parts after the younger one forgot to lock the bathroom door. He never wanted to relive this moment in his life. But these were the only times.  
But right now, he felt very uncomfortable. He palmed them off with stories from the set and of how much he loves shooting a movie again.  
They stilled nagged after that because they wanted to know every little thing but the managers reminded them of the time and how they still had to prepare their schedules.

Han Geng had dreaded this day.  
Over the weekend, Heechul had gone home to Korea after giving him the cold shoulder that morning.  
He knew as well as the older that they had made a mistake. But he also knew that they hadn’t been exactly sober that evening.  
Xiaoxi had visited him on Saturday to ask him how his evening with Heechul had been. He had told her a few lies and had kissed her then. The kiss had surprised her but she had been all too happy to enjoy his affections.  
His weekend with her had distracted him of his thoughts but now was the day he had to go back on set and see Heechul again.  
He didn’t really want them to lose contact again. All this had made him realise how much he missed the other man. Even if he had expressed that in the wrong way last week. And really, objectively, it had been Heechul’s fault.  
Why had the other kissed him? And a little voice inside him asked, why the pretty man had tempted him. It was not his fault.  
Han Geng was a little bit late because he had been stuck in traffic.  
Today they would shoot the scene where the female protagonist and him, the dancer, her lover, get into a fight in front of the little sister and the pen pal.  
Anger was already flowing in his veins and made every muscle in his body tense. At the same time as sadness and disappointment soothed the anger. He didn’t really know what he should feel. But the disappointment probably outweighed the anger.  
When he entered his and Heechul’s changing room, nothing indicated that the other had been here already. Only his clothes were left on one of the chairs.  
Han Geng got ready, had his hair done and dawdled on the way to the set.  
Trying to get in the right mindset, he searched around for Heechul until he was suddenly engaged in conversation with his co-star Leixin. She was very sweet and had a lot more acting experience than him. She asked him about his weekend and how he felt about the shoot up until now.  
Spotlights and props were carried past them and everyone was in a hurry. Someone dropped something and someone shouted at them.  
It was only seconds before the cameras started rolling, when Heechul appeared on set. He had his hair pinned up and was wearing some weird kind of baby blue onesie. Half of the staff snorted when they saw him.  
The older idol didn’t even spare him a glance as he took his position. Han Geng’s disappointment grew in the pit of his stomach, making him almost nauseous.  
Just a few more minutes and they were shooting the scene.  
When Leixin screamed at him, he stayed calm, following the instructions of his character in the script. He accused her of being too focused on their age gap than seeing his love for her. Slowly, he got louder and louder and he didn’t realise how he kept glimpsing at Heechul.  
“Cut!”  
He blinked a few times and saw how his co-star tried to hide her smirk.  
“Han Geng, I know you and Heechul haven’t seen each other for a while and it’s probably still very exciting to act with each other but, Geng, you can’t keep watching Heechul while you’re fighting with Leixin.”  
A lot of people chuckled while Heechul looked around with a very confused facial expression.  
Han Geng felt his ears getting hot. “I’m sorry…I was just thinking.”  
The director gave them a few minutes to calm down and the Chinese hoped his ears would’ve stopped burning by then. Heechul came over to him.  
“What was that about? What did you do?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Stop bullshitting me! He was scolding you! What did you do?”  
“It was really nothing!”  
“He was saying my name! It was about me, so tell me what he said!” Heechul looked very angry by now, clenching his fists and staring directly into the Chinese man's eyes.  
He rolled his eyes and turned away from the burning glare. “He told me to stop looking at you when I'm fighting with Leixin. Happy now?!”  
Heechul blinked a few times and then looked around sheepishly. “Oh…”  
Han Geng decided to be honest, “I kept looking at you because I'm sad we're awkward again, when what happened is no one's fault.”  
The other sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry. This whole situation…let’s just pretend it never happened and we won’t be awkward with each other again.”  
The shoot continued before he could answer.  
This time he didn’t look at Heechul.

Heechul treated him the same way as before. Nothing should remind him of them almost having slept with each other.  
But he knew Heechul. He had been his best friend for years. Heechul loved skin ship and looked really lovingly at people he liked. Even the first day after they had met again, Heechul had touched him on various occasions. He had stroked his arm, leaned his head on his shoulder, let their thighs touch.  
He hadn’t done that today. And Han Geng felt devastated.  
Even if, at the end of the day, Heechul had talked to him again, everything felt different and it probably would stay that way.  
He went home that day feeling as disappointed as he had started it.  
On his way home, Xiaoxi called and asked him if he’d like to spend his evening with her. Actually, he didn’t want to meet anyone right now. But he hoped meeting her would help him forget about what happened today and get his thoughts away from Heechul.  
Shortly after he arrived home, his doorbell rang, announcing his girlfriend’s arrival.  
Xiaoxi greeted him with a kiss and a, “Missed me?” She wore a lovely light blue dress, heels and had her hair pinned up in a bun.  
“Of course.”  
He wanted to cook dinner for them, but it was actually her suggesting that they just order takeout after his long day. That was one of the reasons why he liked her. She was easy to be around, she didn’t demand things of him, and she respected how exhausting his work was sometimes.  
The cuddled on his couch, ate pizza and watched some romance film in return for ordering takeout.  
They were circa 30 minutes into the movie when Han Geng realised that holding Xiaoxi didn’t feel as nice as holding Heechul. He had been seeing her for months now and never thought anything like that before.  
He hastily moved away from Xiaoxi. She looked at him questioningly. “What’s wrong?”  
“I’m just going to get something else to drink.”  
He couldn’t do anything about the nervousness settling in his bones. Almost sleeping with Heechul had affected him more than he had thought.  
Of course it had.  
He had been so excited to fuck a man!  
He had never questioned his sexuality before. Did that incident with Heechul make him question his sexuality? Why didn’t he know before? Why didn’t he know why his body and mind reacted like that?!  
Han Geng filled a glass with cold water and brought it back with him to the living room.  
This time he held Xiaoxi desperately…just trying to convince himself.


	3. With a Little Help from My Friends

Heechul survived the next days with his guilty conscience by acting friendly and polite towards Han Geng, but he avoided his eyes and any type of skin contact. The other's eyes watched him with disappointment and sadness. And Heechul hated when people were disappointed with him.  
Friday he had to go back to Korea again to shoot Knowing Bros. He didn’t tell Han Geng that he would be back to Korea for a few days. And the other probably didn’t know his filming schedule anyway.  
After the shooting of Knowing Bros, the seven men went out drinking together.   
Heechul got incredibly drunk again. This seemed to happen frequently after he began participating in that movie. After what happened with Han Geng.  
He leaned against Kyunghoon and grabbed Janghoon's arm. The older man looked irritated, first at Heechul then at Kyunghoon.   
“Hyung, why are people so…why are they like that?!”  
“How are people, Heechul?” Janghoon asked.  
Heechul kept pulling at Janghoon's arm, which made the other fear for his beloved limb. At the same time, he hit Kyunghoon's chin with the back of his head. “So traitororyy-ous? Traitorous!”  
Hodong had stopped chatting with Youngchul and also looked at the younger man. “Heechul-ah, what are you talking about?”  
The idol let out a voiceless cry. “Why does he keep looking at me like I kicked his puppy? He doesn’t even have a puppy! He has a girlfriend! I didn’t kick his girlfriend!”  
“Hyung, who and what are you talking about?!”  
“You…don’t know him…I mean you do but not…like me! And he…it's my fault but he also…!” Heechul's head just rolled back against Kyunghoon's shoulder and just like that he was out cold.   
The rest of the Knowing Bros members just looked at each other in confusion.   
The next morning Heechul woke up to the sounds of someone being in his kitchen.  
When he followed the noise, he saw Jungsoo preparing food.   
“Thanks…I guess?”  
“Sit down.”  
“Why are you here?” Heechul did as he was told and was offered a delicious meal by Jungsoo.  
“Eat and then we have to talk.” The older also filled a plate for himself.  
Heechul shoved the food into his mouth. “Why are you so serious? What happened? And why do you want to talk to me?”  
“Kyunghoon called me yesterday.”  
“Kyunghoon? What? Why?” He put down the chopsticks and looked in Jungsoo's worried face.  
“He brought you home yesterday and told me some things you told the Knowing Bros cast yesterday.”  
Heechul feared for his poker face. What did he tell them? Or was it nothing too revealing like that one time with Hyukjae?  
“Huh? What did he tell you?”   
“Eat up and I'll tell you.”   
They didn’t say anything until both of them finished their meal. Then Jungsoo calmly washed the dishes. Heechul felt like he was going mad with anxiety.  
Finally, Jungsoo had put away all plates and sat down again.  
“So…who is the guy of whom you neither kicked the puppy nor the girlfriend? Why are you so angry towards that man anyway?”   
Heechul opened his mouth and tried to say anything but he was too shocked. “W-What are you talking about?”  
The leader rolled his eyes. “Kyunghoon told me you kept whining about traitorous people and how that guy looked at you like you kicked his puppy. But he has no puppy but a girlfriend. What happened between you and him that you are so angry?”  
Heechul stayed silent.   
“You've been weird last week, too. Something happened in China, right?”  
“I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t concern the group. I just made things a little complicated for myself.”  
Jungsoo angrily slammed down his hand. “Heechul, it's not always about the group! For fucks sake, I want to help you as your friend! And you’re obviously very stressed right now and the reason seems to be whatever happened in China. I’ve had it with you always keeping things to yourself and wallowing in self-pity!”  
The long-haired idol gritted his teeth. “What do you want to know?! I almost fucked one of my co-stars, that's it.”  
“Almost? What happened and that doesn’t sound like you would be so worked up about it…” Jungsoo's facial expression turned skeptical.  
Heechul felt tears poke at the corners of his eyes. He wanted to tell someone about this mess but he himself hadn't even come to terms with the incident.  
“I almost fucked a male co-star and we know him quite well. We know him very well.”  
The other leaned back on his chair, looking at the ceiling, probably trying to remember. “A male co-star we know very well…”  
Heechul didn’t realise how the tears had started running down his face. “We worked with him together for years. We lived with him together. And he left. He left and now I ruined everything because he has a girlfriend, who is pretty, and he loves her and we got drunk and I almost slept with him…”  
While Heechul rambled, Jungsoo's eyes opened comically wide. “You…what?”  
“I almost slept with Hankyung!” Heechul was now screaming at him.   
Suddenly it was completely silent in the whole flat. Jungsoo slowley pushed his chair back and walked over to Heechul to hug him. “Ssshhh…calm down, Heechul. Please tell me what happened. And this time from the very beginning.”  
And Heechul did.  
Jungsoo sighed while Heechul hid his face in his hands. His eyes were a little puffy and blood shot from crying.  
“Heechul, can I be honest with you?”  
A little nod.  
“It sounds like you’re emotionally involved.”  
The younger stood up and put away some things that urgently needed to be tidied up right now. “That’s bullshit.”  
“Heechul…you were devastated every time the contact broke off…and now you see him again after years! And the first thing that happens is that the both of you end up in bed together!” The way Jungsoo was moving his arms reminded Heechul of someone talking to a little child. A white plate went back into the kitchen cupboard. And he brushed some imaginary dirt into the sink.  
“I was drunk! And he as well!”  
“Idiot! You don’t almost have sex just because you’re drunk! We certainly didn’t try anything.”  
“Why, do you want to?” If Heechul didn’t stop his big mouth Jungsoo would probably hit him. Hard. “Maybe you’re just not attractive enough.”  
They ended up fighting over Jungsoo’s attractiveness.  
“Okay, stop! Stop! That’s not helping us with your problem! You think Hankyung is attractive?”  
Heechul rolled his eyes. “Of course. Have you seen him? But being attracted to him has nothing to do with my feelings for him.”  
“The way you reacted after the whole thing and how you’re talking about him. And just the way you have always been with him…it suggests that you like him. A lot. More than a friend you just see every few years by coincidence. And different from a best friend. If you think about the whole thing now, without involving your careers: Would you like to kiss Han Geng again?”   
Did he want to kiss Han Geng?   
When he thought about the other it was like looking back at his whole life. Even during the years they hadn’t seen each other, there were more than a few moments when he had been thinking about his Chinese friend.  
Han Geng being attractive was obvious. But he was also calm and attentive. He seldom asked for things and would understand that Heechul was busy because of his work, as it was the same for him. He could always cook for Heechul and he was the type of guy to do anything to make his lover happy.   
Han Geng was the type of guy to make Heechul happy because Heechul had been in love with him for years.  
“Fuck.”

His last few days with Xiaoxi had been very cold. Han Geng didn’t know how to act with her right now.  
He kept thinking of Heechul and it really made him feel guilty. Not because it was Heechul but towards his girlfriend. He had really liked Xiaoxi. He still really liked her. But his heart ached when he thought about how Heechul had ignored him and how he missed his lips. Suddenly, he wished to hold Heechul in his arms instead of Xiaoxi. Before their heated encounter he had never thought about Heechul more than a friend after leaving Super Junior and now it was like years of pent up longing were crashing down on him. He even began to miss Heechul nagging about his broken Korean. Since he arrived in China he hadn’t done it. Almost as if he didn’t see it as his duty any longer. And it had never bothered Han Geng during their previous encounter. Until now.  
He sighed and looked at his phone. Three messages and two missed calls from Xiaoxi, asking him to go on a date with her. An even louder sigh escaped him. He threw his phone onto his couch before getting ready for a new day on set.   
They would film his character meeting his lover’s former boyfriend. And Han Geng was quite nervous. He was definitely not the type of guy to get overly jealous. To play this jealousy now was a big challenge to him.  
And in addition to all this came the fact that he was to see Heechul again today.   
His phone rang again.   
His girlfriend.  
He ignored it. Again.  
When he arrived at their changing room, Heechul was already there, joking with their stylists. When the older man saw him, he smiled and greeted him.   
Han Geng blinked irritated and looked behind him to see if there was another person Heechul had actually greeted. He only saw the white door.   
He looked at Heechul again, who snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I meant you.”  
Heechul had a new hair style – shorter and with more waves – and the Chinese man couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the situation and lose himself in staring at the soft looking locks. He shook his head and greeted everyone in the room.   
Han Geng sat down and the stylists started working their wonders on him. Heechul asked him how his previous week had been. He stuttered out some halfhearted answer.   
“Hey, I know we haven’t talked much the last few weeks but did your Korean get even worse? Do you need me to teach you again?” Heechul grabbed his chest on the left side and imitated Han Geng like he used to do, “Oh if you say that, my heart heart, it’s bad!” Then he giggled like some crazy person and slapped the younger man’s arm.  
Heechul greeted him. Heechul talked to him. Heechul made fun of his Korean. Heechul touched him.   
“What the fuck is going on?!”  
One of his stylists let out a tiny awkward sound at his choice of words.   
Of course, Heechul didn’t understand him so he only stopped laughing.  
“Can we talk? Later?” He realised Heechul was blushing when his ears suddenly had a tint of red to them. But still, the older nodded.  
He turned to his manager “Do we still have time?”  
“Yeah. But only about 15 minutes.”  
“We’ll be back then.” He indicated for Heechul to follow him. “Now then.”  
This was probably the first time since the lawsuit that he took such a serious matter into his own hands. Because almost sleeping with his once best friend was a very serious matter to him.  
They passed several doors and many staff members ran past them.   
Finally, they arrived at the male restrooms.   
“The toilet? Seriously?!” Heechul looked at him weirdly but opened the door – only to step beside and let Han Geng go first.   
“You’re so weird.”  
“You will not insult me with your disgrace of the Korean language.”  
“Learn Chinese then!”  
“Learn Korean first!”  
They grinned at each other.   
“Okay look, Heechul, I have no idea what happened. Why are we talking again?” Han Geng never had been one to beat about the bush.   
“Frankly, I realised I was being an asshole. I just didn’t know how to deal with me being attracted to you.”  
“Come again?!”  
“Well, what do you think why I wanted and almost got to fu-“  
The door of the restroom opened and for some reason Han Geng pushed Heechul in one of the bathroom stalls at the same time.   
Heechul glared at him an rolled his eyes. “What the fuck are you doing? Do you want to reenact some cheap porn scene?” Heechul’s angry whisper was just quiet enough to not be heard by the person in the restroom.  
“You talked about this, how was I supposed to react? Do you want the whole Chinese film industry to know about us almost sleeping together?” The Chinese man tightened his grip on Heechul’s shoulder.  
They heard the guy washing his hands and leaving the room.  
Han Geng sighed relieved after the door snapped shut. He also released Heechul.   
He ran his hand through his hair with a stressed look on his face while he rested his other hand on the wall beside the older’s head.  
Heechul rolled his eyes once more and muttered, “This is like every BL manhwa on Lezhin” before kissing Han Geng.

He knew it was wrong.   
He wanted to enjoy the following weeks together with Han Geng. As his friend. Because the other had a girlfriend.   
But what was he to do when this handsome Chinese man pushed him into a place with so little room after talking about them fucking?  
What he didn’t expect was Han Geng responding to the kiss after not even one second. His hands grabbed Heechul’s face and he even deepened the kiss.   
In his surprise Heechul tried to get away from the other, but the younger’s lips chased his until he was pressed against the wall of the bathroom stall. The wall creaked under the weight of two grown men pressing against it.  
The Korean star had kissed a lot of people in his life in various situations, but he could still feel his ears getting hot as he heard his own moan echoing from the white tiles of the small restroom when Han Geng pushed his thigh between his.  
Han Geng’s lips slowly detached themselves from his lips and Heechul pushed the other away.  
“Hankyung, we can’t start this shit all over again!”  
Han Geng nooded and released his hold on Heechul. He also glanced at his watch. “Oh shit!” He took the Korean’s hand and pulled him towards the exit. “The director will kill us.”  
Before they arrived on set, Han Geng tugged at Heechul’s sleeve and looked at him with big puppy eyes which the older probably hadn’t seen since their debut days.   
“Let’s talk. Later?”  
Heechul nodded and Han Geng rubbed his hand with his thumb.   
The Korean idol began to wonder when he became the protagonist in a romantic drama. He was now on set of a Chinese movie, hot and bothered, with his heart in his throat.  
The staff was still preparing some probs and correcting the lightning. Everything was beginning to look like a normal day on set, except for the two idols who were dreading having a conversation later on.  
Later, during their break, Heechul used the time to take a few minutes to call Leeteuk.  
The phone rang 5 times until Leeteuk picked up. “Jungsoo!“  
“I‘m already afraid of the reason why you‘re calling me, Heechul.“  
“Aish! You’re an asshole sometimes! I finally come to you with my worries and you’re still complaining!“  
Leeteuk let out a long and obviously fake sigh. “Yeah because you’re in China right now and we already learned that you don’t know the saying „What happens in China stays in China“.“  
“It‘s Vegas. And fuck you. It’s not like you wouldn‘t think with your dick.“  
“Nevermind. Tell me what’s going on.“  
For a moment Heechul pondered whether he should just end the call. But unfortunately, he needed to talk to someone. “We kissed again.“  
“Did he break up with his girlfriend?“  
“I…I didn‘t ask. It was me who kissed him in the first place.“  
This time it was a real sigh. “Heechul, why are you doing this to yourself?“  
“We said we‘ll talk. Later. Jungsoo…I‘m pretty sure he feels something as well.“  
“Say whaaat?“  
“You need to stop trying to use modern slangs. You‘re embarrassing yourself.“  
“Shut up. Well, then talk. Both of you need to figure out what you’re expecting from all of this. This cannot continue. Otherwise you will have your heart broken by the end of this movie.“  
“But what am I supposed to tell him? What if he‘s not interested, and I tell him that I‘m fucking in love with him?“  
For a second Heechul wondered when he became such a mess. This thing with Han Geng was driving him insane.  
“Try to let him speak first? Honestly I don‘t know. I‘ve never been in such a situation. Maybe ask him why he almost slept with you. Try to get him to talk first. It sounds mean, I know, but in the end he‘s the one with the girlfriend.“  
He wanted to defend Han Geng but some girl from the staff told him it was only five minutes until they would continue filming.  
“I‘m sorry, Jungsoo, they‘re telling me to hurry.“  
“Don‘t worry too much, Heechul. Whatever happens, when you come back to Korea, we‘re here for you. Even though I hope your movie has a happy ending.“


End file.
